Introduction:

Suicide attempts are considered a public health issue in which the families of survivors play a significant role both before and after the event. This research aimed to approach a population that has exhibited suicidal behavior and received hospital care, with the objective of identifying, through their narratives, their perception of family coping and dynamics after the occurrence of such behavior.

Materials and Methods:

Qualitative study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach that collects narratives from seven patients who received hospital care. A semi-structured interview was used as the main tool for information gathering.

Results:

Family coping shows that the initial reactions of families involve a strong emotional component, while coping strategies such as family emotional support, seeking external support, vigilance, and avoidance emerge. Family coping is facilitated by timely access to healthcare services, indicating that it is not limited to internal mechanisms. Post-event family dynamics typically focus on care-giving practices and role re-adjustment.

Conclusions:

The perception of family coping is a phenomenon in which the meanings attributed by the survivor and the family emerge from the processing of emotions, the deployment of behaviors, and the presence of social resources. These factors facilitate dialogue regarding the ability to construct a resilient scenario that reconfigures the crisis and promotes the re-adjustment of the domestic environment, which is crucial in the restoration of individual and family health.

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